Speaker 1: Hey there, you're listening to an extra special episode of
Speaker 1: Healthy Ish, your podcast from Body and Soul. I am
Speaker 1: Felicity Harley. Yes, this week we're celebrating our superstar Olympians.
Speaker 1: We've got some really big names for you, and to
Speaker 1: kick it off is perhaps one of the biggest. Arianne Tiitmas,
Speaker 1: already an Olympic medalist of course, joins me on this episode.
Speaker 1: Now keep in mind we recorded these before she flew
Speaker 1: to Paris, actually before she even made the team, and
Speaker 1: I asked her to share how she gets her mindset
Speaker 1: ready to go for the biggest event of her life.
Speaker 1: Make sure you're listening to extra Healthyish as well, where
Speaker 1: she discusses how she stays true to herself with all
Speaker 1: the pressure that surrounds her. You can grab that wherever
Speaker 1: you get podcasts. Arianne, welcome to Healthy Ish and Well.
Speaker 1: Congratulations on representing US and champion US at the Olympics.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. It's such an honor for me. I
Speaker 2: feel representing Australia at the Olympics is definitely the pinnacle
Speaker 2: of most sports and to be able to do that
Speaker 2: and not just be at the Games, but hopefully be
Speaker 2: fighting for some gold medals is really exciting. What does it.
Speaker 1: Feel like to represent a country? I mean it's I
Speaker 1: mean for me, it's just it must feel extraordinary. I mean,
Speaker 1: is it a pressure, is it an excitement or how
Speaker 1: does that feel for you?
Speaker 2: Well, I remember the first time I represented Australia and
Speaker 2: it's this incredible sense of pride. I think wearing our
Speaker 2: colors and knowing that you've been selected with the task
Speaker 2: as being one of the best representatives to do a
Speaker 2: job in the pool is really special. But it kind
Speaker 2: of it sounds bizarre, but everything's relative in your life.
Speaker 2: And when I was twelve years old, national age was
Speaker 2: the biggest thing for me, whereas now going to an
Speaker 2: Olympic Games is relatively my goal. But you know what
Speaker 2: I'm striving for in my life right now, So it's
Speaker 2: really bizarre. I think when you're living in this world,
Speaker 2: you don't really realize how incredible these opportunities are. I
Speaker 2: think once I finished me and look back on it,
Speaker 2: I'll realize how special this moment in my life is.
Speaker 2: But I just think the most incredible sense of pride
Speaker 2: is what I feel at represent our country.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting you say that because I have heard
Speaker 1: a lot of athletes say that you're just kind of
Speaker 1: focusing on the next thing, and for you that's a goal,
Speaker 1: whereas you know, the rest of us are like, oh
Speaker 1: my god, that's an amazing goal, and you're just like, well,
Speaker 1: it's just the next one in a list of you know, well,
Speaker 1: I'm not being so blase about it, but just tick
Speaker 1: it off, tick it.
Speaker 2: Off, yeah, yeah, box ticking.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, I mean that's not to undervalue it, of course,
Speaker 1: but yeah, I appreciate where you're coming from. What is
Speaker 1: what does the training look like when you're going into Olympics?
Speaker 1: I mean, what do you you know, a week or
Speaker 1: two beforehand, what are you doing in the pool?
Speaker 2: A week or two beforehand? Is really the point where
Speaker 2: physically you can't really do anything to make yourself perform
Speaker 2: better or anything to make yourself perform worse. I think
Speaker 2: in the pool at that point, it's really about sharpening
Speaker 2: your toolboxes such more so fine tuning little things. We
Speaker 2: do what's called tapering, so your workload drastically drops from
Speaker 2: what you've been maintaining for such a long period of time.
Speaker 2: So it's really about getting the body ready to go.
Speaker 2: But I think the one thing that can really make
Speaker 2: or break your performance can be your mindset in those
Speaker 2: final two weeks. I think that you can be prepared
Speaker 2: physically the best that you possibly can. You can do
Speaker 2: a truckload of work for months and years out from
Speaker 2: a games with every aspect done perfectly or as close
Speaker 2: to perfect as possible. But if you really haven't got
Speaker 2: your mind switched on or in the right mindset to compete,
Speaker 2: it can really undo everything, which is crazy to think about,
Speaker 2: but power of the mind is incredible and I think
Speaker 2: definitely after competing at you know, the highest level in
Speaker 2: sport for many years now, it definitely comes down to
Speaker 2: that in the in the final, in the final moments.
Speaker 1: So how do you get your mindset in check? Like,
Speaker 1: what what do you do? I mean, you've had experience,
Speaker 1: I suppose, thankfully you've been to one before and come
Speaker 1: home with metals. So how do you go into into Paris?
Speaker 2: Well, for me, I think you have to have that
Speaker 2: utmost confidence and belief in yourself to be able to perform,
Speaker 2: and for me personally, the only way to do that
Speaker 2: is to know that I've done everything I possibly can
Speaker 2: in the pool, to stand behind the block with a
Speaker 2: sense of pride, knowing that I've turned over every stone.
Speaker 2: I think if I second guess myself, you can't really
Speaker 2: stand behind the block knowing that you've done everything you can.
Speaker 2: And so there's so many aspects that go into training
Speaker 2: that people don't realize the amount of staff around you
Speaker 2: that play different roles. In swimming, there's actually a lot
Speaker 2: of data analysis involved. Stroke efficiency skills, stroke count, breathing patterns,
Speaker 2: underwater dives, turns skills. There are all aspects of your
Speaker 2: training that you have to try and nail on top
Speaker 2: of the grueling, thirty five hour a week training. So
Speaker 2: you really want to try and know that you've done
Speaker 2: all of that to the best of your ability and
Speaker 2: then have the mental capacity to stand behind the block
Speaker 2: and go, I've done everything I get can and if
Speaker 2: these girls beat me, then they deserve to win. And
Speaker 2: that's the way that I like to feel going into
Speaker 2: an Olympete games.
Speaker 1: That's really interesting. So you have data about basically every
Speaker 1: single mini skill movement in your race that you can
Speaker 1: look at analyze. I mean, does someone come to you
Speaker 1: with all this and say, okay to tweak you around
Speaker 1: that way or do your turn this way or yep?
Speaker 2: Pretty much I've worked with a couple of sports scientists
Speaker 2: and their job is performance analysis, and they analyze every
Speaker 2: race I do. Nick, who I work with, has been
Speaker 2: my performance scientist since I was fifteen, So I don't
Speaker 2: know how many races of mine is analyzed. But you
Speaker 2: look at turn times, dive times, power to weaight ratio,
Speaker 2: stroke efficiency, stroke count, velocity, all these things, because the
Speaker 2: tiniest little, you know, tweak can be the difference between
Speaker 2: a gold or a silver. And at this point or
Speaker 2: at this level in assuming it's really those small things
Speaker 2: that make a big difference.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they do, don't they. I mean, that's that's phenomenal.
Speaker 1: I mean that we're this far. I didn't actually appreciate that.
Speaker 1: All that goes into to what you deliver on the day.
Speaker 1: What do you do the morning before the race.
Speaker 2: I try to be as relaxed as possible. I try
Speaker 2: to be just me and not think about the task
Speaker 2: at hand. I really set an alarm. I try to
Speaker 2: be quite awake before I race, so wake at least
Speaker 2: three or four hours up before I'm due to race,
Speaker 2: and just to have a normal breakfast, maybe some porridge
Speaker 2: with fruit, think about some certain points in the race,
Speaker 2: that I want to try and really nail, but being
Speaker 2: as relaxed as possible and really know that at the
Speaker 2: end of the day, I'm doing something I love and
Speaker 2: it's really just swimming, That's all it is. And I've
Speaker 2: just got to go out there and swim. And if
Speaker 2: anyone's prepared to do it, it's me. If I was
Speaker 2: to get you to get up on the block and
Speaker 2: Olympic Games, it'd be much harder than for me to
Speaker 2: do it. So I really just try to think about
Speaker 2: that in stage relaxed as possible, and try and take
Speaker 2: everything out of the situation and not think about what
Speaker 2: I'm actually doing. Just really think about swimming up and
Speaker 2: down the pool and try and remember why I started swimming,
Speaker 2: and in those big moments, it's really just about bringing
Speaker 2: yourself back to earth as much as you can.
Speaker 1: And by the way, never see me on the blocks
Speaker 1: up there, and you just said one thing that I
Speaker 1: just want to pick up. Having fun. I think so
Speaker 1: much is lost in sport. I mean I see it
Speaker 1: with my own sons who made the state AFL team
Speaker 1: the South Wales recently, and we just have to keep
Speaker 1: reminding him it's also about having fun and coming back
Speaker 1: to why you are doing what you're doing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. I started swimming because I loved it and
Speaker 2: I still love it. I love the social aspect it brings.
Speaker 2: I love what it feels like to push yourself every day,
Speaker 2: and I love the feeling of racing and being and
Speaker 2: a competitor. And that's why we do it really, so
Speaker 2: you have to really enjoy those big moments as much
Speaker 2: as you can.
Speaker 1: Well, all the best and yeah, well go go a Wasie,
Speaker 1: thanks for joining us, unhealthy.
Speaker 2: Thanks for liicity. Wow.
Speaker 1: Takes a lot of self belief to well not only
Speaker 1: be on the Australian swim team, but to swim an Olympics,
Speaker 1: especially again. Yeah again. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chat.
Speaker 1: Oh I'll tell you what I get a kick out
Speaker 1: of in olyps You might have noticed. I hope you
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Speaker 1: stay extra healthy ish